Community Spotlight | March 2026
When courage sings
The Carroll Center’s own Maria perform with Mindful Musicians, a week before her graduation from the center.
On the evening of March 4, ten young musicians from the Mind Musicians delivered a heartfelt and uplifting performance for the visually impaired audience at the Carroll Center for the Blind*. The performers ranged in age from five to nineteen years old, including Carroll Center’s own Maria Palomeras who became the emotional highlight of the evening. Maria sang the song Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again from the musical The Phantom of the Opera. Her voice was steady and deeply expressive, drawing the audience into the song’s poignant atmosphere.
Nineteen-year-old Maria has been studying vocal music for four years. Two years ago, she discovered opera—and since then, music has become her language to the world. Maria attended the last two concerts Mindful Musicians brought to the Carroll Center last year. She was deeply moved by the violin piece Gavotte from Mignon—originally an aria from the opera Mignon. After the concert, she approached us, shared her singing on Instagram, and asked if we could help spread her voice and her dream: one day she wanted to be a profession on the stage. We invited her to perform with us. I said “We perform because we care. You have the spirit.” Even though she can’t see the stage—she can feel it and express the passion fully to the audience.
After the first performance with Mindful Musicians today, Maria shared her excitement about future concerts. “I hope to see everyone again in the fall,” she said, echoing the lyrics of the song she had just sung. “Listening to live performances is truly wonderful. Who knows—among today’s performers there might be the next Bach or Beethoven. Just thinking about that is so exciting.”
Community Spotlight | February 2026
The love place
It was Valentine’s day when Mindful Musicians brought love and Lunar New Year celebration to Potter Place Clubhouse*, a program of the renowned Edinburg Center** serving people with mental illnesses. The warm welcome and the heartfelt valentine’s gift for young musicians spoke the word of love in this place. Despite the struggles the Potter people faced day to day, smiles, praise, and claps became the keywords in this concert. Below is our journalist Dylan documented what happened that day.
“I arrived at Potter Place a little early—it was my first time attending a performance by Mindful Musicians. While I was settling in, I met Rose, and I was surprised to learn she had been to one of Mindful Musicians concerts before. Our conversation unfolded naturally from there. She told me she’d crossed paths with music many years ago: when she was five, her father tried to teach her guitar. She didn’t continue with formal training, but she still carried a soft spot for it. Later that day, she planned to visit her five-year-old nephew, and she said she hoped to encourage him to get involved in music—like the young performers.
When the concert began, Rose moved from back to the second row, and completely absorbed. As the program went on, the whole audience clapped, filmed, and called out “encore”. Even though Rose was not familiar with the classical and cultural pieces played by the young performers, she told me it was simply soothing to watch them.”
*https://www.potterplace.org/ **https://www.edinburgcenter.org/
Community Spotlight | January 2026
Music Buddy
NEC chamber music
2025 lunar new year recital
AAPI festival in Belmont
2026 lunar new year rehearsal
With an old friend
With a new friend
School marketplace
Do you know you can have a music buddy anytime, anywhere, and with anyone who loves music? It is magical how music naturally connects us. Mindful Musician Ethan Zhu had no idea about this when he began the journey of learning violin at the age of 6. Today after two years, he has formed over 10 music buddy groups through the inspiration and nurturing of community performance. Some are groups of 20 people, and some are just two. Some are long-lasting friends, and some are strangers just a minute ago. “I like playing music together with others. It makes learning music more fun and rewarding,” says Ethan, who is passionate about violin and making friends, and the combination of the two.
Ethan is looking forward to his first spring break music program* organized by Mindful Musicians, which will focus on creative music making and community performance. “Maybe we can make a music band, which turns into a big music party in Watertown Housing Authority at the end of the week,” says Ethan.
*For more information about spring break music program, please visit the program website.
Community Spotlight | December 2025
Treble Makers
Being the first chamber group of Mindful Musicians, the “Treble Makers” gave their incredible premier performance on Decemeber 14, 2025 at a beautiful senior house “ New Horizons at Choate”.
The three young musicians Aimee Chen (7), Jasmine Bao(12) and Jessie Li (14), who are the winners of various music competitions, performed two pieces in the concert, “Ratatouille” and “Moon River”, in which the lyrical melodies and the rich harmonization of the ensemble fully immersed each audience’s heart.
Besides the great opportunity of sharing different music with the audience, the main mission of this piano trio is to pass the enthusiasm of sharing love and positive mindful spirit to the community, especially the people with special needs. And we believe their successful performances will keep healing people’s perspective of mindfulness as well as the good sense of well-being.
Community Spotlight | November 2025
Serenade Ensemble
Serenade Ensemble, from left to right, front row: Jill Yang (viola), Yiman Ding (cello), Heidi Lu (piano), Hillary Hu (cello); back row: Jessica Qin (first violin), Elvina Hong (first violin), Peiwen Gong (second violin), Grace Wang (second violin), Cathy Wang (viola).
The performance at the Liberty Tree mall attracted a big crowd listening and recording the beautiful music through their cameras.
Serenade Ensemble performed in our Thanksgiving concert at the Liberty Tree Mall in Danvers, MA. Their string ensemble performance of Por Una Cabeza and Viva La Vida attracted a big crowd in the mall and gained long lasting applause and cheer from the audience. Everyone was delighted to hear the heart-warming music, especially in this holiday season. Let’s hear the story of Serenade Ensemble.
Serenade Ensemble is a youth chamber ensemble founded by violinist and violin teacher Wenfei Zhu. The ensemble is based in Winchester, MA and composed of girls aged 13-14. The mission of Serenade Ensemble is to provide meaningful performance opportunities for young musicians while using music as a tool to enrich community life, promote intergenerational connection, and bring beauty and inspiration to public and nonprofit space.
The ensemble features a balanced instrumentation including two first violins, two second violins, two violas, two cellos, and a piano accompaniment. Through ensemble training and public performance, the group aims to foster both musical growth and a strong sense of community engagement among young musicians. The ensemble’s repertoire spans traditional Chinese music, classical-inspired works, and popular international pieces, including Bu Bu Gao (步步高), Spring Festival Overture, The World Has Given Me Everything, Up the Spring Mountain (上春山), Viva La Vida, and Por Una Cabeza. These familiar and expressive selections are chosen to engage diverse audiences and create moments of joy and resonance.